The Best (and Worst) Cities for Staycations in America

Why pay money (and take valuable time off of work) to travel, when you could bring your next summer vacation right to your front door instead? You asked, and WalletHub experts answered: Take a “staycation!” Definition? A vacation spent at home, taking day trips to local attractions and events. And if you think staycations require entirely too much research and creativity, think again.

Thanks to WalletHub’s new study, the best and worst cities for staycations—and ideas for what to do—are now right at your fingertips. The study’s results are based on the accessibility and cost of recreation, food and entertainment, and rest and relaxation. After calculating each city’s score based on its weighted average across all metrics, experts used those scores to finalize the rankings.

If you live in Florida or California, you’re in luck! Both states nabbed two spots each in the top ten cities for staycations (Orlando/Tampa and San Diego/San Francisco, respectively). Orlando natives will never be bored thanks to their hometown’s plethora of options for zoos, aquariums, ice cream and frozen yogurt shops, spas, and public golf courses. As for San Francisco, this sunny city offers one of the best museum selections in the country.

One of the more unusual cities to top the list included Portland, Oregon, where you’ll find a variety of beer gardens and coffee and tea shops.

As for the bottom of the list? If you’re looking to be entertained outside of your home—but don’t want to board a plane or bus—you might want to avoid suburbs in California or New York (think: Fremont, CA and Yonkers, NY). You’ll be hard-pressed to have a relaxing, entertained vacation in these cities, since they have among the fewest spas, swimming pools, and public golf courses in the country.

You can take a look at the full list of cities here. And just in case you’re interested in venturing a little outside of state borders, try exploring one of the nicest small towns in America.